Islam

• Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom with between 2.8 and 3.0 million Muslims in the United Kingdom as of 2013, making up around 5% of the total population.
• There are in UK ~ 1.65 million Muslim (2.7 % of total population in UK); as of October 2009.
• As of the 2001 census, about 1,591,000

See related links below.
1.5 million Muslims in the UK according to the 2001 UK Census BUT - many ethnic British Muslims do not reveal their faith even to their own families... but Allah knows.
There are 1.5 million Muslims in the UK. The second most populous faith group after Christians leading with 42,000,000.

For sure Dog is Haraam in ISLAM

this is also mentioned in sahih bukhari 5480 that if any one make a dog pet without th e need of security and / or without the need of hunting then 2 qeeraat (a unit) of beneficence will be deducted from his good deeds.

for those who just dont know the actualy LAW of nature and why the dog is haraam / not allowed in islam they should try to KNOW the reasons first regardless to say this is because of saliva etc etc , this is actually our lack of knowledge and one should not say like that that this is wrong / funny etc .

hint for those people : try to know the likes and dislike of the angels and try to read QURAN with meaning.

jazak ALLAH

However, just because one does not keep a dog inside the home and doesn't drink after it, that does not give one the right to neglect it, mistreat it, or kill it. The usefulness of this creature of God is indisputable. No other animal can compete with it in its loyalty to its caregiver, its abilities as a guard, and its talent for hunting. In fact, the Qur'an narrates in Surat Al-Kahf, or "The Cave," the story of some pious youths who took refuge in a cave from the persecution and violence of the unbelievers. That these righteous people had a dog with them, and the fact that Allah mentions the dog and counts the dog among them, indicates that dogs are permitted to live among people. [And you would have thought them awake, whereas they were asleep. And We turned them on their right and on their left sides, and their dog stretching forth his two forelegs at the entrance (of the cave as a guard)] (Al-Kahf 18:18).

So dogs may be used for guards as well as for hunting, as the Qur'an also states: [They ask you about what is lawful for them (as food); Say: Lawful unto you are (all) things good and pure: and those beasts and birds of prey which you have trained as hounds, training and teaching them (to catch) in a manner as directed to you by Allah; so eat what they catch for you, but pronounce the name of Allah over it and fear Allah, for Allah is swift in reckoning] (Al-Ma'idah 5:4).

In two separate hadiths narrated by Abu Hurayrah (the cat-loving Companion), the Prophet told his Companions of the virtue of saving the life of a dog by giving it water and quenching its thirst: one referred to was a man who was blessed by Allah for giving water to a thirsty dog. The other was a prostitute, who filled her shoe with water and gave it to a dog that was lolling its tongue in thirst. For this deed she was granted the ultimate reward: eternal Paradise.

Islam asks people to reflect upon this and be aware of each person's duty toward God's creatures, which He has put on earth for our use, not for our abuse. When the Prophet was asked if God rewarded acts of charity to the animals, he replied, "Yes, there is a reward for acts of charity to every beast alive."

islamonline.comAnser

Those who say this that dogs are not cursed in Islam they let know that they are cursed in Islam!By keeping a dog in our house let angels go far away from our house!

Answer 1 (Shia Muslim view)

According to Shia Islam the 6 years age for marriage of Aisha is not authentic and her real age at marriage has been 17-21 years.

Answer 2 (Sunni Muslim view)

A few comments about Muhammad's marriages are in order.

Muhammad married his first wife, Khadijah, several years before his announcement as a prophet of Islam. Khadijah was a reasonably well-to-do woman of Makkah and was 15 years his senior. Muhammad was 25 and Khadijah was 40 at the time of their marriage. This loving and caring monogamous relationship continued for 25 years until her death.

Muhammad, now over 50 years of age, married a relatively aged woman by the name of Saudah. It is thus important to note here that Muhammad's twenty five prime youth years were spent in purely monogamous relationship with a lady 15 years his senior. This speaks volumes about this man's piety and loyalty in spousal matters as well as about the fact that his later marriages could not have been motivated by any human wild sexual desires.

In 620-621 A.D, he and his devout companions migrated from Makkah to Medina. Then a couple of years later, he married Ayesha, a daughter of his closest companion, Abu Bakr, in the 3rd Hijrah (Islamic calendar-623-24 A.D). This information coming from diverse historical and Hadith sources is widely agreed upon and therefore can be, a priori, considered authentic. Based on this information, and a host of other related bits and pieces detailed below, it can be shown that Ayesha could have been at least 16-19 of age at the time of her marriage with Muhammad (PbuH). The following is the detail of the analysis of these historical and Hadith accounts.

1. Several books of Hadith (Al-Bukhari and Al-Muslim, Abu Dawood, among others) and Islamic history (Tabari, among others) report that Ayesha was married to the Prophet at 6 but her marriage was not consummated until she was 9. Although, this information is widely quoted and found in many Hadith and history books, it must be noted that most of this information has come from a single person, Hisham bin Urwah, who is the last narrator of this Hadith Isnaad (chain of narration) on the authority of his father. Thus, this Hadith is primarily a single Hadith. Some other narratives mention the same Hadith but their narration has been found weak and unacceptable. In general, a Hadith has more credibility if it is narrated by more people independently from diverse chains of narrators. In this case, there is basically only one source.

2. Despite the abundance of information available during the 71 years that Hisham bin Urwah lived and taught in Medina, it is rather odd that no one else-not even his famous pupil Malik ibn Anas-reported Ayesha's age from Hisham in Medina. Furthermore, all the narrators of this Hadith were Iraqis. Hisham is reported to have moved to Iraq in his later years. An extensive list of biographical sketches of all narrators including these Iraqis is available in some books.

3. Yaqub ibn Shaibah is reported to have said, "narratives reported by Hisham are reliable except those that are reported through the people of Iraq". Malik ibn Anas (d. 795), a student of Hisham in fact discredited all narratives of Hisham that were reported through people of Iraq.

(Tehzibu'l-tehzib, by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Arabic, Dar Ihya al-turath al-Islami, one of the most well known books on the life and reliability of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (PbuH), vol 11, pg 48 - 51).

4. It is reported that Hisham bin Urwah's memory suffered in his later years to the extent that some of the traditions reported from Hisham bin Urwah could not be trusted for authenticity.

(Mizanu'l-ai`tidal, by Al-Zahbi , Arabic, a book on the life sketches of the narrators of the Hadith, Al-Maktabatu'l-athriyyah, Sheikhupura, Pakistan, Vol 4, pg 301).

5. Even though Ayesha is reported to have been born about eight years before Hijrah (around 614 A.D.), one can find another narrative in Bukhari (kitabu'l-tafseer) whereby Ayesha is reported to have said that she was a 'young girl' at the time of revelation of the 54th chapter of the Qur'an which came 9 years before Hijrah (around 612 A.D). Thus, according to this tradition, Ayesha was a young girl (Jariyah-as she calls herself and not an infant in which case she would be sibyah). Additionally, this narrative stands in direct contrast to the one reported on Ayesha's age by Hisham bin Urwah. This puts Ayesha's age significantly higher than 9 as reported by Hisham bin Urwah-possibly 15 or even higher. Obviously, if this narrative is held to be true, it is in clear contradiction with the narratives reported by Hisham ibn Urwah. There is no compelling reason as to why this tradition should be considered less accurate vis-à-vis Hisham's narrative).(Sahih Bukhari, kitabu'l-tafsir, Arabic, Bab Qaulihi Bal al-sa`atu Maw`iduhum WA'l-sa`atu adha' WA amarr).

6. According to many narratives, Ayesha participated in the battles of Badr and Uhud. No one younger than 15 was allowed to accompany the Prophet's army in the battle of Uhud. This applied across the board to all participants, men and women alike. The battle of Uhud took place around the 2nd Hijrah, a time line close to her marriage with the Prophet. Obviously, she was at least older than 15 at that time.

7. A narrative regarding Ayesha's participation in the battle of Uhud is given in Bukhari, (Kitabu'l-jihad WA'l-siyar, Arabic, Bab Ghazwi'l-nisa' WA qitalihinna ma`a'lrijal; that all boys under 15 were sent back is given in Bukhari, Kitabu'l-maghazi, Bab ghazwati'l-khandaq WA hiya'l-ahza'b, Arabic).

8. Most historians have consensus on the age of one of the oldest female companions of the Prophet, namely, Asma, the elder sister of Ayesha that was ten years older than Ayesha. It is also reported in Taqri'bu'l-tehzi'b as well as Al-bidayah WA'l-nihayah that Asma died in 73 Hijrah when she was 100 years old. Clearly, if Asma was 27 or 28 years old at the time of Hijrah, Ayesha was 17 at the time of Hijrah and 19 at the time of consummation of her marriage with Muhammad. (For Asma being 10 years older than Ayesha, see A`la'ma'l-nubala', Al-Zahabi, Vol 2, Pg 289, Arabic, Mu'assasatu'l-risalah, Beirut, 1992. Ibn Kathir confirms this fact, [Asma] was elder to her sister [Ayesha] by ten years" (Al-Bidayah WA'l-nihayah, Ibn Kathir, Vol 8, Pg 371, Arabic, Dar al-fikr al-`arabi, Al-jizah, 1933). For Asma being 100 years old, see Al-Bidayah WA'l-nihayah, Ibn Kathir, Vol 8, Pg 372, Arabic, Dar al-fikr al-`arabi, Al-jizah, 1933). Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani also has the same information: "She [Asma (ra)] lived a hundred years and died in 73 or 74 AH." Taqribu'l-tehzib, Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani, Pg 654, Arabic, Bab fi'l-nisa', al-harfu'l-alif, Lucknow).

9. Tabari informs in his treatise on Islamic history that Abu Bakr had four children and all four were born during the pre Islamic period. The pre-Islamic period ended in 610 A.D, a fact that makes Ayesha to be at least 14 years of age at the time of her marriage around 623-624 A.D.

(Tarikhu'l-umam WA'l-mamlu'k, Al-Tabari, Vol 4, Pg 50, Arabic, Dara'l-fikr, Beirut, 1979).

10. Ibn Hisham, the historian, reports that Ayesha (ra) accepted Islam quite some time before `Umar ibn al-Khattab which only means that Ayesha (ra) accepted Islam close to the time of first revelation (around 610 A.D). This means she must have been at least a young girl at that time. Assuming she was barely 6 or 7 at that time this information puts the age of Ayesha at 20 or more at the time of her marriage with Muhammad (623-624 A.D.), (Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, Ibn Hisham, vol 1, Pg 227 - 234 and 295, Arabic, Maktabah al-Riyadh al-hadithah, Al-Riyadh).

11. Tabari reports that before migrating to Habashah, Abu Bakr planned to hand over his daughter, Ayesha to Mut'am's son to whom she was engaged. But fearing persecution by the Quraish, Mut'am refused and his son divorced Ayesha. The migration to Habashah happened 8 years before Hijra. Obviously, at the time she was ready to take on responsibilities as a wife (possibly 9 or 10 years of age). If she married Muhammad in the 2nd Hijrah (623-624 A.D), she could not be less than 19 years of age (a secondary reference for this argument is: Tehqiq e umar e Siddiqah e Ka'inat, Habib ur Rahman Kandhalwi, Urdu, Pg 38, Anjuman Uswa e hasanah, Karachi, Pakistan).

12. A famous Sunni imam, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, reports in His Musnad, that after the death of Khadijah, Khaulah came to the Prophet (PbuH) and advised him to marry again. She had two propositions for the Prophet: Either Muhammad could marry a virgin (bikr), or he could go for woman who had already been married (thayyib)". Khaulah named Ayesha for a virgin (bikr). It is common knowledge that the term bikr in the Arabic language refers to a well formed lady and not to a 9 year old, playful, immature lass. If she were nine, the word used by Khaulah would have been jariyah and not bikr.

(Musnad, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Vol 6, Pg 210, Arabic, Dar Ihya al-turath al-`arabi, Beirut).13. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani has reported that Fatimah, Muhammad's daughter, was five years older than Ayesha and that Fatimah was born when the Prophet was 35 years old. Thus, Ayesha, according to Ibn Hajar, was born when Muhammad was 40 and consummated her marriage when he was 54 or 55. That makes Ayesha at least 15-16 years of age.

(Al-isabah fi tamyizi'l-sahabah, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Vol 4, Pg 377, Arabic, Maktabatu'l-Riyadh al-haditha, al-Riyadh,1978)

Answer 3 (non-Muslim view)

It was nothing very unusual for children to be married. In most cultures throughout history, marriage contracts have been finalized between two children or between a child and an adult. So the fact that Muhammad married A'isha when she was six was fairly normal in seventh-century Arabia. People did it all the time.

What was unusual was the fact that Muhammad consummated the marriage when A'isha was only nine. In most cultures, a marriage is not consummated until both spouses have passed puberty. Aisha did not reach menarche until she was 14 or even 15, and she was definitely not physically mature at nine. She couldn't cook, either, so she was not ready for marriage, even by the standards of her own culture.

Muhammad's original plan had probably been to wait until Aisha menstruated, simply because that was the way things were usually done. It was Aisha's father, Abu Bakr, who suggested that she move in with Muhammad early. We don't really know why Abu Bakr made this decision. Perhaps it was because they had just moved to Medina, and he was worried that his friendship with Muhammad might fade away now that Muhammad had many new supporters. Perhaps it was because Aisha (like many of their family) had just recovered from a fever, and Abu Bakr was worried she would become sick again and die before she married Muhammad. Perhaps it was because Abu Bakr had just married a young wife (probably not as young as Aisha but much younger than himself) and had therefore revised his ideas about the appropriate age for marriage.

It seems odd that Muhammad accepted Abu Bakr's suggestion. We would expect a prophet to correct his friend's morality and tell him that his offer amounted to child abuse. Probably Muhammad agreed to consummate the marriage simply because he could.He was no longer being persecuted for his faith but was the leader of a thriving religious community. He could say, "Allah allows this," and everyone would believe him.

We know that Muhammad found Aisha very attractive. She was a pretty girl, had a lively personality and was very intelligent. He doesn't seem to have been at all sorry that Abu Bakr let him live with A'isha when she was only nine.

Answer 4

Hint on the non Muslim Answer View

I wonder the written information in this answer is based on what references. How did they know the age of A'isha although there was no recordings of age at that time. what they can say if they know that A'isha was engaged to another man before being engaged to prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). She was not married to the other man as he was not Muslim.

Answer 5

Aisha was 19 years old when she got married. This was in the year 2 A.H. or around year 624 AD. Prophet Mohamed was around 54 years old when married with Aisha (he was born in year 570 AD). See related links and related question below for more information.

A few comments about Muhammad's marriages are in order.

Muhammad married his first wife, Khadijah, several years before his announcement as a prophet of Islam. Khadijah was a reasonably well-to-do woman of Makkah and was 15 years his senior. Muhammad was 25 and Khadijah was 40 at the time of their marriage. This loving and caring monogamous relationship continued for 25 years until her death.

Muhammad, now over 50 years of age, married a relatively aged woman by the name of Saudah. It is thus important to note here that Muhammad's twenty five prime youth years were spent in purely monogamous relationship with a lady 15 years his senior. This speaks volumes about this man's piety and loyalty in spousal matters as well as about the fact that his later marriages could not have been motivated by any human wild sexual desires.

In 620-621 A.D, he and his devout companions migrated from Makkah to Medina. Then a couple of years later, he married Ayesha, a daughter of his closest companion, Abu Bakr, in the 3rd Hijrah (Islamic calendar-623-24 A.D). This information coming from diverse historical and Hadith sources is widely agreed upon and therefore can be, a priori, considered authentic. Based on this information, and a host of other related bits and pieces detailed below, it can be shown that Ayesha could have been at least 16-19 of age at the time of her marriage with Muhammad (PbuH).

Finally, it must be pointed out that Ayesha's age at the time of her marriage has never been an issue. If it were, his enemies must have picked up on this issue as they did to him on some other issues. Also, the reader must note that none of these Hadith reports concerning Ayesha's controversial age of marriage with the Prophet goes back to the Prophet himself. In other words, it is not the Prophet himself who said Ayesha was 6 or 9. These reports came from a single individual and the Iraqis reported from him when he grew old and his memory started failing.

In conclusion, this article is an attempt to prove that the books written 200-300 years after the death of Muhammad, while providing a good deal of historical information about him are not free from faulty, less than perfect and self-contradictory materials. These should not be taken as the final word for a Muslim. There is a Final Word for a Muslim and that is the Book of God, the Holy Qur'an-the book that defines the marriageable age for a man or woman when he or she attains soundness of judgment (Al-Qur'an 4:6). If Muhammad is a model for mankind, if he followed the Qur'an all his life, if Allah stands witness to his rock-solid character, there is no way that he could have taken a 6-9 year old, immature young, playful girl as a responsible wife.

its in one of the five pillars of Islam that Muslims must pray 5 times a day and face mecca when they pray.

Why do we do it? As societies worldwide flourish and Islam stands to be the fastest growing religion of the world, we sometimes see a disturbing deviation within the Muslim Ummah. Forget society, forget those who are converting and reverting, forget those who are just introducing themselves to Islam. I'm talking about us: those born and raised into Muslim families and taught the values of Islam and the teachings of the Prophets and Imams (peace be upon them). For everything that we have been taught and nurtured with, we find ourselves constantly doubting the actions we perform and the teachings we follow. But Islam stands to be a religion of logic, from the time of Muhammad, and it will remain so till the mountains crumble, the Earth flattens, and the final trumpet is blown.

One of the most asked questions within our community today is, 'Why do we have to pray?' More often than not, we see arrogance taking over people's minds, boasting that there is no need for prayer. And if they do pray, it is ritualistically and taken very lightly.

So people ask, why do we have to pray? And I only respond, '

Do you not find it worthy to thank Him, the One who has given you everything, and the One Who can take all that away from you if He so wishes overnight?'

In understanding why we pray, there are several factors that need to be understood first, before coming to the essence of prayer itself. The first is understanding and believing that there is a Hereafter, a life after death, one more permanent and Just by the Grace of

So knowing that, we also understand that we must send our deeds forth, to serve as a light and support on the Day of Reckoning, where we will be held accountable for all that we have done in this world. We know that everything we do here will either form benefits or punishment in the afterlife. It is all about prioritizing and being prepared.

Allah does not need our prayers, so the question of prayer still remains. But if only we understood that the power of

Have we ever thought of how busy our lives are? We are either rushing to go to work, to finish assignments, to do chores, and to have life sorted out; we are constantly on the run! Have we ever imagined that if Allah wanted, we could lose our job? We could lose our

It is due to His Grace that we get up in the morning, and it is due to His Grace that we sleep at night.

In this world, we openly believe in the moral values of thanking someone when they do us a favor or help us in some way. So why is it one rule for the people and another rule for the Supreme Power? Is it not Him we are answerable to? Yet we tend to care what people think of us more.

So if we accept our morals and values, and the basic service to humanity, then we must also accept that we have to thank Allah for the gift of breathing, talking, and

In making it mandatory, Allah has only done us a favor, so that we may continue adding to our good deeds, as remembering Him is a Mercy in itself and also rewarding for us.

As we stand at the designated time in front of our Lord and raise our hands to attest that

In our busy lives with our never-ending agendas, it is nothing short of beneficial for us to stop everything we are doing at that precise moment in time when the call of Ibrahim is echoed throughout the world, and praise Him Who gave us the ability to wake up that morning, and He who granted us the honor of being raised in a religion that promotes direct communication with the Creator.